


Shopping Incident

by AllThingsGeeky



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Accidental wetting, Anxiety, Desperation, LowEffortPosting, Omocute, Omorashi, Tony Stark acting as Peter Parker’s parental figure, author can not proofread, idk man it’s 4 in the morning and I haven’t written in months, irondad and spideyson, male omorashi, pee shyness, what even is this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26206906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllThingsGeeky/pseuds/AllThingsGeeky
Summary: A short Omo fic where Peter once again misses serval opportunities to use the restroom whilst out shopping with his mentor; which ultimately ends in a race home and a minor disaster
Comments: 22
Kudos: 49





	Shopping Incident

“Where’re you going, kid?” Tony hummed absentmindedly, not even looking up from what he was doing; as out of his periphery he’d seen Peter hurriedly tidying away his work station and making a beeline for the door. 

“Uhm, it’s already five thirty Mr. Stark?” Peter said questioningly. 

“I’m well aware of the time, wait up will ya?” Tony chuckled, still not looking up. Clearly Peter had forgotten his mentor was meant to be driving him home that evening, like he always did on a Wednesday. 

“Oh! Uh- I was gonna stop at a store on the way home today so I figured I’d get the bus.” Peter said somewhat rushedly. He thought he’d already mentioned that but clearly not. As much as he usually relished in any time or conversation Tony offered, the kid was itching to get going; the store he intended on frequenting closed at seven and with the route he was planning to take he was already cutting it fine leaving at half five. 

“I can take you, it’s not a problem.” Tony shrugged easily. Finally he glanced up at the kid and started putting his own tools away, feeling the anxious waves rolling off of the boy. 

Peter blinked and started shaking his head. “No Mr. Stark I can’t ask you to do that-”

“You didn’t ask, I’m offering.” The man rolled his eyes. “Besides, it’s freezing outside and I can’t help but notice you’re not wearing a coat.” 

With that the teen glanced down at himself before turning back to his mentor with a sheepish smile. “I forgot it.”

“And I bet you forgot your keys too, huh?” Tony smirked knowingly, watching a look of confusion cross Peter’s face as he patted down his pockets. 

Low and behold they were empty. Peter pouted, looking disappointed with himself. “Oh heck.”

“Exactly. Come on, I’ve got time to kill. I don’t mind waiting for you to grab whatever.” The man said as he nudged Peter out of the doorway, grabbing two of his own jackets, one for himself and one he lovingly bestowed on his smaller counterpart. Peter slipped it on without argument, blushing slightly as he had to roll up the sleeves when the fabric drowned him, covering his hands entirely. Tony smirked but chose not to comment..for once. “Where are we headed?”

“Uhm..game stop..” Peter mumbled a little shyly; though Tony wasn’t entirely sure why. Maybe it was down to the kid’s hang ups about being- well a kid, but Tony thought nothing of the somewhat juvenile request. “I was just gonna look round, I've saved up enough to get a couple games so I don’t know. We don’t have to stop I was just..I don’t know.”

“That’s cool.” Tony said lightly, hoping to encourage the boy into a conversation about it. As of late he was making an extra effort to engage with the kid in _his_ interests, as opposed to their shared ones. Of course it was easy to find conversation about tech or superhero stuff but Tony found himself more and more interested in what the boy liked to do in his spare time. He loved it when Peter prattled on about books or video games, or movies or whatever else he was currently hyperfixating on; and the man always made the effort to go off and research it on his own time, so the kid would know he actually gave a shit about him. It was a two way street after all, their weird little relationship, but Peter was usually reluctant to talk about himself in case he came across as annoying. All it took was a little nudge. “Console or pc?” 

“Either. Or both. I’m not sure yet. I was looking at-“ And that was it- it didn’t take a lot of pushing to get the kid to chatter excitedly which made Tony smile. Long gone were the days where the kid was too nervous to talk about himself or what he liked in the man’s presence- he just needed a little push every now and then. 

The drive to the store was short but filled with conversation and anecdotes from both mentor and mentee about the video games of their youth and what Peter should invest his money in this time around. So when they got to the store it was no surprise to Tony that Peter was taking his sweet time looking at stuff. The boy drew quieter as he began intently studying the backs of games, losing interest in his mentor’s company entirely which Tony found amusing. 

“Okay, I’ll be over here, yell if you need me kid.” Tony excused himself, leaving the child to his own devices. He ended up occupying himself looking at all the old trade in junk- old consoles he remembered from before the kid was even born and wondering what kind of stuff he could make with that retro hardware. He found himself considering buying an old NES for Steve and Thor to try and ease the pair into modern technology. They couldn’t quite understand ‘the Netflix’ yet but maybe an old 8 bit console would be more their speed. 

Peter just hummed in response to his mentor’s departure, barely registering the lack of presence beside him. He was too busy considering whether or not to purchase another game for him and Ned to play on their shared Switch. Whilst he was comparing the covers of Breath of the Wild and the newest Fire Emblem game he noticed he kind of needed to pee. Usually that wouldn’t have been an issue he would’ve put down what he was looking at and gone to the Jamba Juice across the street to use their bathroom and come straight back; but he wasn’t on his own time, he was on Mr. Stark’s too and he felt the pressure to hurry up and make a decision so he didn’t waste the man’s free afternoon. Of course Mr. Stark didn’t seem to mind, in fact he wasn’t hovering like he usually did when they were in public together, he was distracted by the old game cube he was inspecting in his hands- which bought Peter some time. 

Besides, it wasn’t all that bad yet. He could hold it until he got home. He didn’t wanna interrupt his very important research for something as trivial as emptying his bladder. With that in mind he was able to push the need back to the far corners of his brain where it laid dormant until Peter would be forcefully reminded again. 

He was busy browsing, not even noticing when he started squirming on the spot as he was too engrossed in weighing his options. Of course he could’ve just gotten the games online and saved himself the hassle of coming all the way down to the store but he and Ned preferred having a little collection of discs and cartridges for the nostalgia factor and-

Oh god. Out of nowhere his stomach clenched violently and he had to quickly cross his legs. When did it even get that bad? Only a moment ago it had been a niggling nuisance but now it was becoming urgent. The shock ended up with Peter dropping the two games in his hands- and embarrassingly a woman who had a young boy with her noticed and leant to pick them up for him. 

“S-Sorry ma'am!” Peter apologised quickly feeling his face flood with colour. 

“No problem honey.” The woman smiled kindly as she passed the boxes back over. With a small sympathetic glance over the boy's posture she gently added; “And you know, if you go across the street I’m sure they’ll let you use their bathroom if it’s an emergency.” 

“Oh uh..Uhm yeah m-maybe...” Peter mumbled awkwardly, not knowing what else to say but he looked over to Tony to see if the man overheard the exchange. He was usually so vigilant (cough _anxious_ cough) when they were out in public but he was lost in thought and nostalgia of his own; obviously he was trying to be patient whilst Peter was making his decision but the teen couldn’t help but be a tiny bit mad at him. Usually the man noticed if he so much as wiggled but now the man couldn’t see him practically bobbing up and down but some random lady did. That totally wasn’t mortifying at all. 

“Maybe you should go and ask your dad.” The woman followed Peter's gaze to the back of the man she obviously couldn’t see to be Tony Stark and walked away before the embarrassed teenager had to try and think of something to say; but he did nod and rush over to his ‘dad’.

“Uhm, Mr. Stark?” Peter whispered hushedly as he tapped the man rapidly on the shoulder. 

Tony blinked a couple times before regaining his composure; feeling a little flustered having lost himself in thought so much. “Sup kid, you pick out what you want?”

“Uh, uhm, no I just- uh- I’ll just come back later, can we go?”

Tony turned to look at the teen, noting his face was bright red and his breathing was a little jagged. The man’s stomach dropped, he’d been so wrapped up walking down memory lane he’d neglected to keep an eye over the kid as he usually did. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing it’s just- There’s too much to pick from and I might as well just look online I’m sorry for wasting your time Mr. Stark-“

“Buddy you don’t have to worry about wasting my time. I was planning on getting you food and helping you break in the new game anyway.” Tony shrugged, still looking the kid up and down. He didn’t buy the excuse that the kid was just worried about wasting his time because that didn’t explain the sudden onset of panic symptoms he was picking up on; the boy was fidgeting on his feet, his hands were twitching, his eyes were darting back and forth looking at the exit. 

“I- wait what? Really?” Peter blinked, stilling his movements momentarily. The man was planning on spending the whole evening with him? 

Tony simply nodded. “So you’ve got time. There’s no rush.”

Of course by the point Tony had long since noticed the kid looked anxious but he wasn’t entirely sure what was causing it. But before he could ask Peter had already scarpered off again back to the row of shelves he’d been pouring over for the past forty five minutes; god that boy was indecisive. 

Tony made sure to keep a closer eye on hims , looking out for any more signs of distress. The store had gotten a little busier, since there was only an hour before closing and Tony could only imagine it was the sudden flood of people making the boy panic. He quickly put down what he was looking at and crossed the room to retrieve his kid before he had a panic attack because though he could only see his face above the rack, Peter was looking increasingly agitated. 

Tony put a hand on the boy's shoulder and Peter jumped at the sudden contact, which was worrisome since his Spidey senses would have told him that Tony wasn’t a threat. Hence why Tony crouched down a little so he was at eye level with him and put his hands on his shoulders. “Hey, kid, what's wrong?”

Peter shook his head, he couldn’t think of what to say- well he wanted to say he just couldn’t pick and he wanted to go home or he was hungry and he wanted to eat first- he just wanted to _leave, now-_ but his mouth wouldn’t cooperate. He was also too busy worrying that the sudden leak Tony had caused when he put his hand on his shoulder was showing on his pants but when he glanced down he was glad to know his crotch looked dry. He was pretty shocked Tony hadn’t noticed by now what the problem was, the man usually did- though Peter was painfully aware that it wasn’t Tony’s job to notice his mentees bathroom habits, the man was exceptionally good at it and it had saved his pants so many times. But now it seemed either he hadn’t noticed or was trying to teach him a lesson about speaking up. Knowing Tony, Peter leaned towards the former but it was still an anxious thought that swirled in his mind along with all the mirages or waterfalls and oceans that kept his bladder convulsing. 

“Too many people?” Tony asked quietly when Peter failed to articulate any kind of response, instead just looking even more upset than he had earlier. 

Okay now Peter knew the man just hadn’t noticed. But it was a good enough excuse so he quickly nodded, taking the out. 

“Right okay, gimme those.” Tony said quickly, coaxing the boy into letting go of the items in his hands and gently pushing him towards the door. “Go stand outside, I’ll be two minutes.”

Peter understood the man’s desire to send to him outside. Usually when the boy was panicking or overstimulated he wanted fresh air; and in all honestly getting away from the cramped space full of bodies did sound appealing- but walking out into the cold sounded like a really bad idea when his bladder was near to bursting. The cold had a habit of making him desperate to pee even when his bladder was virtually empty, so venturing out there when he was already in dire need of a toilet seemed like self sabotage. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sneak off to find a bathroom either without his mentor worrying he’d taken off- though maybe he could quickly text him as he ran over to the cafe across the street...no that was too risky. What if he was mad about him lying?

The kid shook his head and if anything moved a little closer to his mentor which made Tony frown. He must’ve been really anxious if he didn’t want to be left alone. “Buddy I’ll be right out, I promise. You wanna sit in the car?”

That sounded better. At least Peter would be able to wiggle and hold himself and maybe just maybe find an empty bottle. Hell, his thermos from lunch would do at this rate. Peter nodded, Tony handed him the keys. “Alright I’ll be right out, lock the doors.”

The kid insisted on shoving his wallet into the man’s hands before he ran off. Tony grabbed the games as well as knocking a whole rack into his basket to buy so the kid had plenty to choose from. He knew Peter would protest but he’d just say it was for his own benefit. Out of principle he paid for the first two games with the boy's money but the rest was on him and he’d reimburse the kid when he wasn’t looking anyway- even if it meant sneaking money into his little Hulk fist piggy bank he had on his desk. 

When Tony got back out to the car he noticed Peter was hunched over in the passenger seat. The teen straightened up when he saw him though, so Tony assumed Peter had just been bracing himself on his knees to try breathe deeper. “You alright kid?”

“Mhm.” Peter murmured in response. In reality he wasn’t alright, but he couldn’t bring himself to say that. There had been too many people on the street, and despite the tinted windows Peter had forgone his plan of emptying his aching bladder in a bottle. He was glad he had since Tony was out of the store a lot quicker than he had anticipated and had he gone ahead and started peeing he wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to finish up before the man got to the car. So the kid was anxious to get going and Tony could sense it.

In fact the man was looking increasingly concerned, his brows furrowed and his expression considerably softer than usual. “You wanna just go home and we’ll order in?” 

“Uh- Uhm- I Uh-“ Peter stammered, trying to think but his brain was focussing all of its attention on keeping his thighs clenched without it looking too obvious. He tried to weigh his options; going straight home and using his bathroom sounded nice in theory but it was further away and he might not make it; but stopping somewhere for food posed equal risk. Stopping meant a potentially gross public bathroom that he wouldn’t be able relieve himself in anyway. It was a risk he was willing to take because he didn’t want to thank his mentor for all his kindness by wetting his seats. “Uh- n-no we can stop I don’t mind. I’m uh- I’m pretty hungry.” 

Tony nodded and started up the car content to leave the boy alone for a moment. The kid was quiet but Tony just thought he was coming down from a panic attack and gave him some space; he knew he’d feel better once he got some food in him and he was back home in his safe place. With that in mind Tony automatically pulled to go through the drive in, without giving it a second thought. 

“W-Wait are we not going inside?”

“I figured you wouldn’t want to with all the people right now?” Tony asked confused. That and Tony figured Peter would want to get home as soon as possible- which he did, just not for the reason he was thinking. 

“Oh Uhm no it’s- I-it’s fine I’m sorry.” Peter said quickly, his mouth shutting involuntarily before he got the chance to say what he really wanted to. It should have been so easy to say ‘is it okay if I jump out and use the bathroom’ but nope. His jaw clamped shut and so did his thighs as he gripped the sides of his seat and waited for the desperation to pass. He just felt so bad wasting the man’s time, but now he was worried he wouldn’t be able to hold it. 

Finally Tony realised the kid’s behaviour was even more off than usual. He understood Peter being anxious but suddenly he’d flushed pale and he was concerned the boy was going to throw up. He had a knack for doing that out of nowhere. “Kid are you okay?”

“Mhm.” 

Before Tony could continue to question him their conversation was cut short by the person at the drive in window asking for their order. Rather than press the issue with the chance of them getting interrupted Tony left Peter alone until they got their food and started their drive home; though he did note for someone who said he was hungry the kid didn’t dive into the bag and start eating his (and his mentor’s) fries like he usually did. “Kiddo, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Uhm..actually I uh..Uhm..it.its nothing, nevermind.” Peter trailed off, staring into the footwell. 

“No come on, you’re doing good you almost said it.” Tony said gently, trying to encourage Peter to continue without sounding patronising. “You know I’ll wait for you to finish your sentence.”

He knew the man was referring to his stutter but Peter wasn’t sure if _he_ could wait. “I- uh I-I-I kinda, Uhm- I need to g-go..”

“Is that what was wrong?” Tony asked, his eyebrows knitting together in concern when he took a look at the youngsters tightly clenched legs. Thinking about it now it made a lot of sense, all the odd behaviour- but that whole time? The kid must’ve been dying. “Did you have to go at the store?”

“Uhm..a little.”

“Peter.” Tony said lowly. 

“Okay a lot.” Peter muttered towards the dashboard before grimacing and shifting again. “Like a lot a lot.” 

Tony cringed remembering the amount of tea the kid had drank whilst they were working. It was his fault, he kept refilling the kid’s mug because he’d been fretting about the cold temperature and he didn’t remember Peter peeing before they left like he usually did. He couldn’t help but feel a little sad that the boy hadn’t divulged this information sooner. Recently Peter had been a lot better about admitting when he needed to use the bathroom, though admittedly that had always been at the tower, they had yet to test that boundary whilst out and about but apparently their most recent development didn’t extend outside the confines of the lab. Which was pretty unfortunate considering Tony had just turned back onto the motorway. “Buddy why didn't you tell me? I would have waited or helped you find a bathroom.”

“I didn’t wanna waste your time...”

“I already said I plan on spending the evening with you.”

“I know- but before that. And then when you said you were willing to play games with me I didn’t wanna waste that time either..”

“Peter.” Tony sighed. He had the paternal urge to chastise him and comment on how if he couldn’t be trusted to take bathroom breaks they wouldn’t be playing any video games tonight- but that was mean. And he didn’t want the kid to feel bad over a mistake. He was clearly paying enough for his lapse in judgement and Tony didn’t want to inadvertently negatively reinforce any of it; he didn’t want Peter to be worried about mentioning it in the future if he reacted badly to it now and punishing him for admitting it (even if it was a little late) didn’t seem like the best way to do that. “Are you gonna make it home?” 

“I-I-I don’t-“ He couldn’t bring himself to say ‘I don’t know’, it was too embarrassing. But he really didn’t know, by now his bladder was constantly pulsing, swollen and pressing against the waistband of his jeans. He could feel every little bump on the road as it sent waves of desperation coursing through him and he just couldn’t think about anything else. He’d been in this situation enough times to know his bladder’s limits and he was really _really_ pushing it. 

Tony knew the answer anyway, so didn’t pry. He knew the kid would have admitted if he could have waited. But there wasn’t anywhere to stop, no gas stations; he couldn’t even pull up on the side of the road for Peter to dart into a store because all the stores were closing and he’d likely get a ticket. Of course he’d pay the fine in a heartbeat if it meant his kid could get to a bathroom quicker but if there weren’t any bathrooms to get to he didn’t see how that would help. And lord knows if Spider-Man wouldn’t pee in an alley unless it was inevitable Peter Parker certainly wouldn’t. Not to say he _hadn’t,_ it was just never _willingly._ Still, from what Tony could tell the kid’s jeans were still dry so in that case he was better off just getting home and fast. “I’ll take a shortcut.”

Shortcut meant a few illegal maneuvers and a _tiny_ bit of speeding- not enough to be dangerous, he never ever would with the kid in the car- and only when it was safe but he knocked a good ten minutes off his journey. 

Though it seemed that still wasn’t enough. As they pulled up in front of Peter's building the boy was practically curled into the fetal position trying to keep his bladder in check. Tony didn’t understand how cramping himself up like that relieved any of the strain on his bladder; logically speaking it must’ve made the pressure worse, but he wasn’t about to comment on that. Maybe later, but not right now, for the sake of the boy’s pride and his pants. Instead he just got out first and opened Peter's door to save him a task that required bending forward. 

“Come on, bud.” Tony said gently as he ushered a still crumpled Peter out of the car. The boy shuffled to his feet, bent at the waist and briefly looked into the backseat where his backpack and the food bags were slung. “Leave the stuff I’ll come and grab it in a minute.” 

Peter nodded, not having the energy to argue and also he was entirely mortified to be in such a situation. Part of him still half expected Tony to drop him off at the curb and say ‘see ya kid’ as he sped off to spend some time with people who didn’t seem to be constantly almost peeing their pants. But the man didn’t, and while part of him was elated that Tony had yet to reject him in such a way part of him wished the man had done so; at least then he wouldn’t have felt the pressure of having to try and make it upstairs. He could’ve ran into the alley and wet himself in peace, hung out there until the street lights were on so no one saw him then hauled himself up in his room until school the next morning. 

But Tony was there, and despite the ambivalence of that fact Peter still tried to make it because he didn’t want to be a complete embarrassment to the man. However his body had other ideas. As soon as he lifted his feet high enough off the ground to tackle the front steps up to the building, his whole body juttered; shaking his bladder dangerously, almost making the overfilled glass spill over. He had to pause after only a few steps and they weren’t even inside the building yet. Even standing entirely still the pressure was immense; at first getting out of the car had helped slightly, giving his bladder more room but gravity had quickly taken over and now he was stuck having to lock his knees together, trying desperately not to grab himself.

Peter vehemently avoided eye contact with his mentor, keeping his eyes cast to the concrete steps as he struggled up the next one; but had he looked up he wouldn’t have seen any judgement, only sympathy. 

Tony knew he couldn’t really do anything to help, despite his instincts insisting he just pick the kid up and run with him, he knew that would be a terrible idea. Not only would that probably scare the kid into pissing himself on a good day, he’d probably inadvertently put pressure on his stomach and make his bladder rupture or something equally dramatic. So instead he patiently waited as Peter slowly shuffled up each step, ignoring each small pause. They only lasted a couple of seconds each but once they made it inside the building even Tony cringed at the six flights of carpeted stairs that still awaited them. 

But Peter struggled on, not that he had much choice. Stairs. So many stairs, why did they have to live in a building with so many stairs? It had been his downfall countless times when he’d had to run home from school- and Peter really didn’t want to add another mark on the scoreboard in their favour whilst in the company of his mentor; but it was getting too much. He managed somehow to make it to the third landing before he stopped, and this time not for a couple seconds. 

Leaning on the banister, twisted completely sideways, Peter crossed his legs fully and shook; almost like he wanted to bounce his legs to keep it in but the motion was too much to handle. For the first time since they left the car he stole a fleeting glance his mentor’s way before he shook his head back towards the ground. “I can’t.”

Tony pressed his lips into a thin line. He agreed with the sentiment, in fact he was amazed Peter had made it this far, but he couldn’t exactly say that. It just wouldn’t be appropriate on any level to tell the kid to go ahead and piss his pants, even if that’s what seemed inevitable. Peter was sensitive and would likely never forgive him if he had an accident after being instructed to; so instead he decided to gently encourage him. “Yes, you can come on.”

But Peter shook his head again, shaking even more now. His grip on the banister tightened, his arms practically vibrating and Tony heard the wood creak angrily under his clenched fists. He didn’t think it was possible for Peter to be any redder than he had been but he was wrong as the boy whispered to the ground. “M’not gonna make it.”

“Not if you keep stopping, come on just a few more flights.” Tony said quietly, still not wanting to stand there idly whilst it just _happened._ He wanted to do something but other than performing some kind of spell that magically made all the liquid in Peter's bladder dissipate there wasn’t much he could do for him. Biting his lip he checked the neighbouring floors for any- well neighbors, and once he realised no one would stumble upon his kid he quickly turned back to him. “Look. I’ll run and get the door open, okay? Then I’ll come back and help you.”

Peter gave him a small pained nod and not as soon as Tony turned his back the boy hissed and buried his hands in his crotch. 

Tony did as he said he would, taking the rest of the flights two steps at a time and quickly unlocking the Parker apartments door and leaving it ajar before he fled back down the steps. He didn’t want the kid to have to try and hold it through the man unlocking the door. On a good day Peter usually bounced up and down when they were waiting at doors let alone when he was already bursting. 

By the time Tony went back to help him, Peter was on the last flight of stairs; which surprised him somewhat given the pace he’d been previously going. He guessed without his mentor there to witness it, he’d just ran hell for leather as best he could before he was forced to stop. What was more concerning was the fact Peter had seemingly given up all together, he was sitting on one of the steps as opposed to trying to get over it, facing downstairs instead of up; but Tony was hopeful he was just charging his batteries for the last few steps to his door. 

Tony stepped down towards him, hoping to help him up. “Come on kid, you’ve got this, we’re almost there.” 

But rather than respond by taking the man’s outstretched hand Peter let out a small sob and Tony realised the boy's head was in his hands. And his thighs were wet. And steadily getting wetter.. “Oh.” 

Hearing that small exclamation Peter instantly started crying harder and Tony realised he made him feel worse. He quickly crouched beside him, mindful of the small puddle that was forming and put his hands on his shoulders. “Hey hey hey no kid it’s- it’s okay. It’s okay, come on. Let’s get you inside, yeah?” 

Peter didn’t say anything and at first he didn’t really respond at all, not until Tony had to manually lift him under the arms onto his feet. Once he realised his mentor had just had to essentially pick him up, just to add to the already humiliating experience, Peter managed to make his legs work and allowed himself to be led inside without argument; trying desperately not to cry but the tears ran down his face anyway. He didn’t once dare to look up at his mentor’s face, not even when he got through the threshold into his apartment. 

He just silently went into his room, kicking off his socks and shoes which had thankfully remained dry due to the position he was in; before peeling off his sodden pants and underwear with an embarrassingly familiar yet still startling disgusting feeling. He then swiftly grabbed a robe and a change of clothes, tossing the soiled ones into his hamper to be dealt with later and rushed into the bathroom locking the door. 

All the while Tony stood in the living room, not sure of what to do. Knocking and asking if Peter was okay was certainly not the best idea, let the kid shower first; but he at least wanted to do something productive. So logically he thought dealing with the damage would be the next step but once Tony had taken the boy’s clothes to the washing machine he realised he had no fucking idea how it worked. He’d done his own laundry before okay, he just..wasn’t sure how this one worked and he didn’t want to ruin Peter’s clothes more than they had been. Instead he went back down to the car and to grab their things, at least that was something he could do. Oh and he quickly called a company cleaner to take care of the uh, carpet, lest May get a charge from the landlord in the mail for property damage. 

When he got back up, he was surprised to find the living room still empty. The bathroom was empty too if the open door was anything to go by. At first Tony shrugged and sat down, figuring Peter was just getting changed but he waited for a good ten minutes and he still hadn’t come out. ‘Ah,’ he thought, ‘probably embarrassed.’ He had to fix that before it festered and built into something it didn’t need to be. 

The door was slightly open and he could see the boy was sitting on his bed, scrolling through his phone looking the picture of sadness. Rather than waste time Tony pushed the door open fully making the boy jump instead of announcing his presence. “Well come on, foods getting cold.”

But Peter wasn’t just startled by the sudden noise. He quickly wiped his face on his sleeve. “Mr stark? I thought you left..”

Tony was kinda surprised by that assumption. He had told him previously he’d go and get the stuff. Did Peter think he was the kind of guy to abandon him? Or was- was he supposed to leave? He guessed it was kind of an embarrassing moment for most people, especially Peter, was he meant to give the teen space? He thought he’d done the right thing but maybe he should’ve left the boy alone once he’d gotten him home safe. He didn’t exactly know the etiquette here and it must’ve shown on his face. “Do you want me to?”

“No!” Peter said quickly, and maybe a little too eagerly before he composed himself and cast his eyes back to the floor where they had once been. “No it’s just- well after that I thought you wouldn’t wanna hang out-“

“Well, you thought wrong.” Tony shrugged, not wanting to dwell. Best way to show the kid everything was okay was acting okay, right? “I was getting the games out of the car, and your backpack- what the hell do you put in this thing? I’m pretty sure it just realigned my spine. No wonder you sit like a gargoyle all the time.”

“Hey.” Peter laughed lightly but the smile quickly fell again, Tony’s attempt at lightening the mood only half working. Instead of quipping back he went back to fiddling with the corner of his blanket and avoiding eye contact. 

With a small sigh Tony dropped the backpack with a heavy thud onto his floor before crossing the room and sitting cross legged on the bed opposite him. “Are you okay?”

“Mhm.” Peter mumbled, still trying to avoid eye contact but it was hard when the man was sitting right across from him. Tony stayed silent, letting Peter know he wanted him to continue. “Embarrassed.”

“Why? It’s just me.” Tony said lightly. 

“I know, I know it’s just..This shouldn’t happen to me anymore. I’m fifteen I should’ve-“. Peter murmured, pausing for a moment as he let his mouth catch up with his brain to avoid stuttering. Tony waited for him to finish the thought as there were lots of possibilities. “I should’ve been able to hold it-“

“No. Try again.” Tony interrupted him there. They’d had this conversation plenty of times; more than enough times for him to know the answer wasn’t ‘just hold it,’ because Peter's idea of holding it wasn’t right. It wasn’t ‘hold it until it’s only mildly inconvenient in _certain_ situations’, it was ‘hold it until your bladder is about to actually burst any time other people are around’. He wasn’t about to point out the distinction again so he let Peter try a second time. “You should have…”

“Not drank so much..?” The teenager suggested unsurely. 

“Think a little more basic here buddy.” Tony chuckled. 

Peter blinked a couple times before realising what he was supposed to say and blushing profusely. “Oh. I should’ve- I should’ve spoken up.” 

The man smiled softly. “Bingo. Third time’s a charm huh?” 

But rather than responding to the light teasing, Peter only hung his head in shame; remembering the numerous mistakes and missed opportunities that led him to the situation at hand. “M’sorry. I went to but the-the words wouldn’t come out and-“

“Kid, I don’t expect you to come out and say it. I know you’re not there just yet. But a nudge and I would’ve got the message.” Tony butted in before the kid had a chance to panic. He still didn’t want to make a huge deal out of it. They’d had plenty of conversations about Peter’s pee shyness and he wanted to normalise it. Even though, despite his limited interactions with children, he understood having accidents wasn’t exactly normal for his age group; nor was the painful inability to express certain needs, Tony didn’t care. Normal or not it was just one of Peter’s things, everyone had them- something to work on, a quirk that inhibited certain parts of their life and Peter’s was speaking up about his needs; Tony accepted that easily, far more easily than the boy himself did. It was just unfortunate he had a super metabolism and a super tiny bladder which just caused this particular issue to continuously occur. 

He just wanted Peter to know it wasn’t a big deal, at least not with his mentor, that he was unphased and that the kid doesn’t need to spend the next however long torturing himself; or convincing himself that Tony thought he was gross or hated him or was just being nice because he felt sorry for him. Which was usually what happened. “Next time?”

“Mhm.” Peter mumbled again, tone unchanging from that of pure embarrassment. He felt comforted by the knowledge his mentor wasn’t freaking out about his mentee having just pissed himself for no goddamn reason- but he just couldn’t get all of his failures of the day out of his head. 

“Ugh- you’re really gonna make me? Fine. Come here.” Tony groaned before opening his arms up and gesturing for Peter to dive between them; which the teen did with some hesitation. But after a moment Peter relaxed, accepting the comfort and hugging his mentor back tightly, both of them wondering just when the hell did they reach this level of the casual hugging stage. Tony wasn’t uncomfortable, quite on the contrary, but he was aware that he _should be_ \- and the fact that he _wasn’t_ uncomfortable in the embrace _made_ him uncomfortable, so after a moment he pulled away to look down at his ward. “There, will you stop looking so sad now? And come and eat, you know I hate cold fries.”

“And you know I love them.” Peter chuckled with a sniffle, the hug having changed his mood tremendously. Tony needed to remember to use that tactic more often, physically affection truly was worth more than words coming from him. 

“Oh was this your plan all along?”

Peter gave Tony a blank, dry stare. “Yes Mr. Stark, I peed my pants so I’d get your fries.”

“Roundabout way to go around it kid.” Tony chuckled as he stood from the boy's bed, ruffling his hair. Peter sighed as he set about fixing his curls back in place, though a smile did creep onto his face; and luckily this time it stayed there.

After they ate (well at least Peter did, even the microwave couldn’t revive Tony’s meal to the standards of his pallet) the man clapped his hands together loudly and looked at the shopping bag. “So what’re we playing first?”

“Well which one did you get?”

“Hehe, about that-“

_“Tony.”_

  
  



End file.
